enkou sokugetsu　猿猴捉月

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Ch: Yuanhou zhuyue.　A painting subject of the Buddhist parable that features a monkey (Jp: enkou 猿猴) attempting to catch a reflection of the moon. According to the story, one night a monkey chieftain saw the bright reflection of the moon in the water below his tree. Thinking that the moon had died and fallen into the water, and fearing that the world would thus slip into darkness, the monkey called together his underlings and commanded them to join tails and together pull the moon out of the water. However, when the monkeys attempted this task their weight was such that the branch broke and they fell into the water and drowned. One simple moral of the story is not to recklessly attempt impossible tasks. On a more philosophical or Zen level, the image of the monkey attempting to grasp a reflection of the moon is a metaphor for the unenlightened mind deluded by mere appearances. The theme was often depicted in ink painting, usually featuring long-armed spider monkeys. The screen paintings by Shikibu 式部 (fl.16c; Kyoto National Museum) and Hasegawa Touhaku 長谷川等伯 (1539-1610; screen painting at Konchi-in 金地院, Kyoto), are representative.

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